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If you needed confirmation that Intel and Apple’s Thunderbolt interconnect is destined to repeat the sad, obscure history of FireWire, here it is: the PCI Special Interest Group (SIG) has revealed plans for an external, peripheral-oriented 32Gbps PCI Express cable system. The cables will feature four parallel copper wire PCIe 3.0 channels, and will have a maximum length of 10 feet (3m). Like Thunderbolt, there are also long-term plans for an optical version of PCIe cables. They will be based on PCIe 4.0, capable of insane throughput, and hopefully based on graphene switches.

In terms of raw speed, PCIe cables will be faster, cheaper, and thinner than Thunderbolt — but less functional. While Thunderbolt can be daisy-chained and carry DisplayPort data, external PCIe will simply be a fast, dumb interface — like USB 3.0, in fact. One source close to PCI SIG said that the main reason for PCIe cables is the size and thickness of Thunderbolt sockets: it’s too fat for ultra-thin devices, like tablets, smartphones, and netbooks; PCIe sockets, it is suspected, will be very thin, like the micro-USB connector. The fact that PCIe is cheaper to implement and managed by a consortium of 900 tech companies — and not gated by Apple and Intel — is an added bonus.

The main problem — if you can call it that — is that PCIe will probably have a very similar market to USB 3.0. Big-time OEMs like HP and legions of peripheral makers have already decided to roll with USB 3.0 — and considering PCIe cables won’t arrive on the market until 2013, it might be a case of too little too late. Having said that, though, support for PCIe cables can be added very easily — and is there any harm in having extra options when it comes to expandability?

There is also space for PCIe to go after the same low-latency audiovisual crowd that Apple is targeting with Thunderbolt. There’s still no sign of any third-party hi-fi Thunderbolt devices hitting the market, either — so maybe PCIe’s 2013 release date isn’t all that bad.

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http://pulse.yahoo.com/_HSHTSXRLRVGFKXH5CGIFIR3DAU Fast Turtle

From what I’ve read, Thunderbolt is a superset of the external PCIe specification, which Intel is a contributor to. This means the connector is being designed by Intel as part of the standard, meaning that this will be the low end connector and will most likely fail. What I think is going to happen is that Thunderbolt will become the new connection standard and Intel is going to make a fortune on the plugs and chips needed.

http://twitter.com/JorgTheElder Jorgie

From the description, calling Thunderbolt a superset of the external PCIe specification is like comparing a destroyer to a rowboat.

The new ePCI spec looks to put all the smarts on the host side (like USB) thus making it extreaming cheap to put in client devices. This is one the of major reasons USB is everywhere and is a huge advantage when you are trying to become common.

http://www.classicdosgames.com DOSGuy

This will be a huge boost for SSDs. SATA was designed for spinning disks, and it just can’t keep up with SSDs. OCZ and Intel are already making, or working on, PCI-E SSDs that blow SATA III drives out of the water. (Have you seen the specs for the Intel 720?!)

Being able to ship an SSD in a normal 2.5″/3.5″ form factor that connects to the PCI-E bus would be a big improvement over a card-based solution that fills up an expansion slot. SSD makers will definitely embrace this, as Sandforce has pretty much already saturated SATA III’s 6 Gb/second limit, and even doubling it again (SATA IV = 12 Gb/second?) in a few years just isn’t going to cut it.

http://www.mrseb.co.uk Sebastian Anthony

Good point! I’d forgotten about PCI SSDs. Thanks for the informative comment :)

http://profiles.google.com/khimera2000 Jonathan Freeman

if they can get me a really cool sound card that i can seperate 10 feet from my machine i would be really happy 0.o that means i would have one wire on top of my speaker system instead of a bunch o wires chasing my computer >.<

I can see this changing how we build our computers, at least for home theater use.

http://twitter.com/TacoJohn74 Jackson Kavendish

I will be very happy with my recent investment in a MacBook Pro if Thunderbolt turns out to be just as big a “failure” as Firewire. Right now, I can purchase almost every type product I may ever need with the option of a Firewire connector. Firewire was a monumental development in the early says of DV video production and is still relevant today.

http://www.mrseb.co.uk Sebastian Anthony

Yep, I suspect Thunderbolt will be the next big step for super-high-res DV gear — much like the way FireWire was very important for ‘garage’ film makers.

FireWire isn’t bad — it’s just expensive, and USB performs the same task for less money and less complexity. There are trade-offs of course, but in most cases they are inconsequential.

http://twitter.com/TacoJohn74 Jackson Kavendish

DV cameras were used in so many professional applications throughout the 2000’s that your ignorance on the subject is further exposed when you equate the FW port to garage film-making.

Anonymous

Nice article.
Make absolutely no sense, but what the heck.
Thunderbolt is a large port? Right.
And then you go from there to USB 3.0 ensures the death of PCIe. Right.
So then it’s back to USB vs. Thunderbolt.
I’m an editor, Thunderbolt is the greatest thing since the invention of beer.
Get a clue.

http://www.mrseb.co.uk Sebastian Anthony

Yes, the Thunderbolt port is considered ‘fat’! (Not my words — but I can see what they mean.)

Basically, Thunderbolt is at least X millimeters thick (because of DisplayPort integration I think) — and many devices (tablets, ultra portables) want to go thinner than a Thunderbolt socket.

Yes, for video work, Thunderbolt is awesome (just like FireWire).

When cameras with Thunderbolt interfaces appear, anyway…

Anonymous

I produce tv commercials. Been doing it for 15 years.
Firewire has been a great success and far more functional than usb. It changed the way I made tv spots overnight.
Anyone who calls it a failure is clueless, or does not work professionally in film and video.
Being able to daisy chain displays, drives and video gear means on location editing in ultra hi-def. So yeah, light-peak/thunderbolt is a game changer.
One more reason production professionals will continue to work with macs.
Ultra hi-def is 4K. Not DV gear.

http://profiles.google.com/xenocatz Rich Allen

In the building I work in, a typical American business with 150 employees, we have 128 computer, 8 Macs, the rest PCs. All have at least 4 USBs 9 computers have 1 or 2 Firewire ports. We have every imaginable kind of USB devices, including printers, cameras, jump drives, scanners, external drives. Hundreds, I wouldn’t even venture a guess. We have one firewire device, an ancient external hard drive that has been replaced by jump drives & SD Cards. In this system, Firewire really couldn’t be called a success.

What is the point!? This is an intel standard (the originator of PCI, PCI-X, PCIe), Intel will be including it in their chipsets? The PC gained it’s enormous marketshare *BECAUSE* of standards, not by constantly fighting the battles of “my interface is better than yours”.

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